Compliance & Safety
Restaurant Equipment Maintenance Checklist
A preventive maintenance schedule for a commercial kitchen, sorted by how often each task comes due: daily line care, weekly boil-outs and filters, monthly coil and extinguisher checks, and the contractor visits for fire suppression and exhaust that inspectors ask to see.
The Copper Skillet
Equipment Maintenance Checklist — October 2026
Completed by: ______________________ Reviewed by: ______________________
Pre-filled with a typical full-service kitchen schedule, grouped by how often each task comes up. Tick items as they are done, edit any line to match your equipment, and print a fresh copy for each period.
Progress
0%
0 of 29 items done
Daily
Line cooks and closers, every shift
- Record walk-in, reach-in and freezer temperatures (41°F or below cold, 0°F or below frozen)
- Wipe down and degrease flat-top, char-grill grates and range tops after service
- Filter or skim fryer oil; check oil color and smell
- Empty and clean hood grease cups and wipe filters with visible buildup
- Check dish machine wash and final-rinse temperatures, or sanitizer concentration, and log them
- Clean and sanitize slicer, mixer attachments and food processor after use
- Check refrigeration door gaskets for tears and doors for a full seal
Weekly
Kitchen manager or lead cook
- Boil out fryers and replace oil on the schedule your volume needs
- Run hood filters through the dish machine or soak them in degreaser
- Delime the dish machine and clean wash arms, screens and curtains
- Clean oven interiors and combi-oven cavities; run the combi's cleaning cycle
- Check calibration of probe thermometers in an ice-water bath
- Inspect gas hoses, quick-disconnects and restraining cables on cooking equipment
Monthly
Kitchen manager
- Visually inspect every portable fire extinguisher: in place, charged, pin and seal intact (OSHA 1910.157)
- Clean condenser coils on reach-ins and under-counter units
- Clean and sanitize the ice machine bin; follow the maker's descaling schedule
- Check walk-in evaporator for ice buildup and clear the drain line
- Inspect grease trap or interceptor level and log pump-outs
- Check water filters on coffee, ice and steam equipment; replace on the maker's schedule
Quarterly
Manager with outside vendors as needed
- Have the exhaust system inspected for grease buildup at the interval NFPA 96 sets for your cooking volume
- Service walk-in refrigeration: refrigerant check, fan motors, door heaters
- Inspect gas and electrical connections behind the cooking line
- Calibrate oven and fryer thermostats against a reference thermometer
- Review the repair log and replace parts that keep failing
Every Six Months and Yearly
Licensed contractors; keep every report on file
- Kitchen fire suppression system inspection by a licensed contractor (every six months)
- Annual maintenance check on every portable fire extinguisher (OSHA 1910.157)
- Backflow preventer test, if your water utility requires one
- HVAC and make-up air unit service: belts, filters, burners
- Deep-clean behind and under all cooking equipment with the line pulled out
Why Preventive Maintenance Pays
Commercial kitchen equipment rarely fails without warning. A walk-in that is slowly icing up, a fryer thermostat that drifts, a hood filter loaded with grease — each gives weeks of signals before it becomes a lost Saturday, a spoiled delivery or a fire. A written schedule turns those signals into routine tasks with a name next to them. It also produces the paper trail that fire marshals, health inspectors and insurers ask for after something goes wrong.
The Tasks That Are Required, Not Optional
- Fire extinguishers: OSHA's rule for portable extinguishers (29 CFR 1910.157) requires a visual inspection every month and a maintenance check every year. Initial and date the tag each time.
- Exhaust system: NFPA 96 sets the minimum inspection interval for grease buildup by cooking type — monthly for solid-fuel cooking, quarterly for high-volume kitchens such as 24-hour, charbroil or wok operations, twice a year for moderate volume, and yearly for low-volume kitchens like seasonal businesses. Your fire marshal can require more.
- Hood fire suppression: inspected every six months by a licensed contractor in most jurisdictions. Keep the tag current and the report on file. Our suppression guide covers system types and what inspections cost.
- Cold holding: the FDA Food Code holds cold food at 41°F or below. Log it daily on a temperature log.
How to Use This Checklist
- Edit the lines to match your actual equipment; delete what you do not own.
- Assign each section an owner: closers for daily, the kitchen manager for weekly and monthly.
- Print a fresh copy each month and keep the signed sheets with contractor reports.
- Write repairs in the margin; the same part failing twice is a budget line, not bad luck.
Related Tools & Guides
Restaurant Fire Suppression System
Hood system types, codes and inspection costs
Restaurant Cleaning Checklist
The cleaning side of the same daily routine
Food Temperature Log Template
Daily cooler and freezer logs with Food Code limits
Health Inspection Checklist
What an inspector checks on your equipment
Restaurant Equipment Financing
Lease or buy when a unit is past saving